Ciudad de la semana (City of the week)

GRANADA 

Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in Andalusia, Spain.



Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of four rivers, the Beiro, the Darro, the Genil and the Monachil. It sits at an average elevation of 738 metres above sea level, yet is only one hour by car from the Mediterranean coast, the Costa Tropical. 

The population of the city of Granada proper is 236,982, and the population of the entire urban area was estimated to be 472,638, ranking as the 13th-largest urban area of Spain. 

Nearby is the Sierra Nevada Ski Station, where the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1996 were held.

Sierra Nevada is Europe’s southernmost ski station, and the highest in Spain. With its high elevation, the skiing season can last from late November until early May. Particularly towards the end of the season you can enjoy long, sunny days of skiing, although wind can be a problem due to Veleta's prominence and few trees.

                                                              

The greatest artistic wealth of Granada is its Spanish-Muslim art — in particular, the compound of the Alhambra and the Generalife. The Generalife is a pleasure palace with attached romantic gardens, remarkable both for its location and layout, as well as for the diversity of its flowers, plants and fountains. The Alhambra is the architectural culmination of the works of Nasrid art that were undertaken in the 13th and 14th centuries, with most of the Alhambra having been built at the time of Yusuf I and Mohammed V, between 1333 and 1354.

At present, the buildings of Granada are typically bourgeois in appearance, with much of the architecture dating from the 19th Century, together with numerous Renaissance andBaroque buildings.It is the most renowned building of the Andalusian Islamic historical legacy with its many cultural attractions that make Granada a popular destination among the touristic cities of Spain. The Almohad influence on architecture is also preserved in the Granada neighborhood called the Albaicín with its fine examples of Moorish and Morisco construction. Granada is also well-known within Spain for the University of Granada which has about 80,000 students spread over five different campuses in the city. The pomegranate (in Spanish, granada) is the heraldic device of Granada.

Fuente (source): Granada

Enlaces de interés (Interesting websites):

http://www.granadatur.com/
http://www.granadadirect.com/rincones-granada/
http://www.turgranada.es/